Not You
by HecateA
Summary: Storms pass, but even after two prophecies the reality of just how dangerous the world is does not- a stark reminder Percy and Annabeth did not need. Burning Maze spoilers. Oneshot.


**Surprise my dudes, guess who found some half-finished post-Burning Maze (SPOILER ALERT) Jason angst on my computer? This girl. Guess who still isn't okay with Jason dying and so decided to polish this one up and post it? This girl!**

 **Additionally: happy Winter solstice!**

 **Disclaimer: that's right, I still own nothing.**

* * *

 **Not You**

 _We must respect the past and mistrust the present if we wish to provide for the safety of the future._

-Joseph Joubert

Annabeth's fingertips trailed against his arm as she walked back into the living room and sat down on the ottoman in front of the couch. It was hard to believe that four hours ago, she'd been dressed for date night- now she'd slipped into one of his enormous hoodies and put her hair up in a bun as if she was about to establish a mission control centre for an impromptu battle. Which was for all intents and purposes what she'd effectively done.

She'd been on the phone with Camp and San Francisco and Los Angeles and who knew where else for the last four hours that they hadn't been starring at each other numbly or frozen in the middle of the living room and starred at each other. Annabeth had maybe held his gaze for ten minutes in the last four hours. She was still wearing the shoes that she and Reyna had dubbed the Man Killing Heels, and they clicked against the floor as she paced the apartment with her phone pressed to her ear.

Percy was working away on her computer, keeping an eye on the mortal news and at flight tickets and so on, but he couldn't really focus on anything. He'd just gotten rid of Nico, who had shadow-traveled onto the balcony and knocked frantically on the door until Percy let him in. The words dropped out of his mouth: _is it true?_ Percy had no idea how Nico knew, but had spent most of the last few hours sitting on the couch with his cousin because not only was Nico in no state to shadow-travel, but Percy didn't want him to wind up alone either. Will had been visiting one of his patients checked into a mortal hospital, and Percy had arranged for him to come pick Nico.

"Don't tell anyone," Annabeth told Nico when he and Will were on their way out. "Not before we get the okay from Camp Jupiter, and then Chiron should be the one to give the news."

"People need to know," Nico said. "They should know. Jason is…"

"I know," Annabeth said. "But we still don't have all of the information. Piper calling me was the first successful communication between demigods all year, and I don't think it's going to last. The line got blurred whenever she tried to tell me about anything relevant- prophecies, names, locations, quests…. We shouldn't push our luck."

Nico hadn't liked that and had made no promises. Percy had poked Nico's arms.

"Come on, Nico," he said. "His sister should find out first."

"That's low." Nico had told him with cold eyes.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," Percy said.

Now it was just them in the living room, Annabeth's phone clutched in her hand and her knee bouncing nervously.

"That was Piper," Annabeth said. "Our calls worked out, and they'll be able to claim his body and make arrangements for him to be buried."

"Does Reyna know yet?" Percy asked. Reyna would want to know. They'd grown up together, she had to know. Besides, Jason would want to be buried in New Rome and that was all Reyna's territory. He wondered how Frank and Hazel would take it. He wondered if Hazel had felt it somehow, like her brother.

"Nico felt it right away," Percy said. Mom had been feeding them hot chocolate and cookies and apple slices while they spun around the apartment in a frenzy, making calls and pulling ropes to help as best as they could from afar, but his mouth still felt dry. "I wouldn't put it past Reyna either."

"I'll call in case Piper didn't or couldn't."

"You didn't ask?"

"No."

"You were on the phone for an hour," Percy said. Annabeth didn't answer, but she did nudge a plate of sandwiches Mom had left on the coffee table towards Percy.

"Not until you eat," Percy said. So they both grabbed half of a peanut butter and banana sandwich and ate in silence, even if their taste buds didn't register anything.

"I haven't had any luck touching bases with Thalia," Percy told her. Annabeth sighed, and put her sandwich half back down. "What, with my cooties and all…"

Annabeth smiled a little bit, but it didn't get to her eyes- it was the kind of smile she'd give him to recognize that he was trying to cheer her up and that she appreciated it, but that it wasn't working and honestly Percy wasn't surprise because he wasn't feeling anything either. He felt like a rock quarry had moved into his stomach, but he couldn't tell if it bothered him because something has snapped in his brain.

She picked up the little notebook that was next to the coffee table and flipped it open.

"Piper told me what happened," Annabeth said. Percy didn't get it at first, but Annabeth was looking at her notes. "He exhausted himself with a big show of power- calling forth enough wind to break through two Venti prisons and channeling an incredibly powerful explosion; that's something that you and Nico are going to have to be careful about, falling back on your fathers' powers. Then there were archers-"

The wheels clicked in Percy's head. "You're… You _asked Piper?_ You asked Piper for the exact details of how he died in front of her eyes?"

"Yes," Annabeth said looking up and toughening her chin. "As much as she could tell me. I have no idea where he was or who he was fighting and why, but he did it to save a quest party."

Percy was stunned.

"Are you crazy?" Percy said. "With everything that had to be done today, you did _that?"_

"Don't get angry."

"I'm not angry," Percy said. "I'm – gods, Annabeth, Jason died."

"Exactly," Annabeth bit back. "And part of that means that his scent no longer beacons out to the continent's monstrous population, which places a lot of attention back on you and Nico, so you are going to have to be careful about channeling your fathers' powers because…"

"Jason just died and the first thing you did was pick apart his last fight and find out what he did _wrong_?"

"No, the first thing I did was listen to Piper cry on the phone for twenty minutes before she could tell me anything. Then she told me everything. Then I managed to convince her that it wasn't her fault and helped her figure out what her next steps were. Then I spent the afternoon making calls for her and passing the news around before it leaked. And now I'm making a plan for you, because I swear to the gods, if I lose you as well I'm going to- I'm going to-"

Percy just wrapped her in a big hug and she didn't seem to hate him for it, since her fingers dug into his sweater- this nice dark blue one that Mom had bought for him months ago because 'if you're going to bring a nice girl to nice places, you need to look nice too.'

"You're not going to lose me," Percy said.

"You say that, but less than twenty-four hours ago Jason was in physics and nothing was supposed to happen to him." Annabeth's voice was muffled in his shirt.

"I dropped out of physics, I'll be fine."

"Don't," Annabeth warned. "Don't do this, as if it isn't serious."

"Annabeth, I've lived longer than anybody expected. My own father is a little bit shocked. Jason and I talked about stuff like this all the time," Percy said. His voice quivered. "He knew that he was going to die one day, and he knew it would probably be young, and probably be ugly. I just… I just didn't think it would be now. This wasn't his quest. This wasn't… It came out of nowhere."

He'd meant to be reassuring her, but somehow along the way he realised just how unhinged _he_ was about the whole thing.

"No," Annabeth agreed. "It wasn't. It came out of nowhere, but it's not really 'nowhere' because this is… this is just the way it is. And it's always going to be this way, even if every now and then we manage to convince ourselves that we're safe and that it's okay to make plans because we're back to normal... but normal… Jason died in the middle of his life, Percy. This _happens._ "

"I guess we've been at war and in crisis for so long that we forget that 'normal' isn't necessarily safer," Percy said.

Annabeth took his hands. "Losing you is the worst thing that could happen to me. I know it, and I need you to know that too."

"I'm sorry," Percy said. "I'll be careful. I'll start paying attention to the mist and what it's doing around me. I can ask Mom if we can go to camp next weekend, too. To take a break."

"Okay," Annabeth said.

"I'll stop using my powers for dumb things like drying my hair after showering."

"You've been doing that?" Annabeth asked.

"Don't get mad, I said I'd stop."

Annabeth smiled and moved over to the couch, so she could sit next to him with her head on his chest. His arms looped around her.

"Okay," Percy said. "I'll be careful. I'll take care. But what do we do if that's not enough? It wasn't for Jason, the most careful person I know…"

Annabeth took his hand and started tracing the lines of his palm. Rachel had a book about reading the lines of your palm to tell you the future- she'd had it before she became the oracle, now she pretended to read palms to spook the younger girls at her fancy school. Percy had never let her even joke about whatever was written in his love lines and career lines.

"Annabeth, I'm serious. If you're going to, you need to have a contingency plan for yourself as well. And I guess I need one too. I think we… I think we're there. I think we're involving each other in our lives and our plans well enough that it's worth talking about."

He closed his hands around hers. He leaned back into the couch, and they looked up at the ceiling.

"If something were to happen to you, I would still go to school. I would get my degree anyways," Annabeth said. "It would be hard, but I would do it. I know school isn't your favourite, but I need to know that you would go even without me. If it's not university, then at least some kind of training so you can do forwards and do something. Would you?"

"I think, yeah," Percy said. "I wouldn't do so hot but…"

"But you'd still try," Annabeth said.

"Yeah," Percy said. "I'd have to join a study club or something, since you wouldn't be there to keep me in shape, but I would. And if I died, would you keep going to Camp regularly? To take a break from the outside world and the mist and stay safe? I know you don't like dwelling in the past or going back to places that have a lot of memories, but…"

"I'd keep going to camp," Annabeth said. "I might spend more time at Camp Jupiter and in New Rome at Reyna's invitation if I could."

"That counts as a sanctuary," Percy said. "And if something happens to me, you're allowed to be sad for a year. Then you have to move on."

"Why a year?"

"It feels like a long time, but it's not long enough to mess up your life," Percy said. "Seriously, if I die you have one year to be sad and then you have to forget me and move on. I'm not saying you need to find some other guy because you clearly don't need one, but you have to move on."

"That would be a lot to do in one year," Annabeth said.

"You can do anything."

"Would it take _you_ just one year?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know, I'd be a hot mess," Percy admitted. "But I think it's… Okay, just promise me never to be some weird spinster who only had the one boyfriend."

"Okay. Promise me back?"

"Okay."

"And if something happens to me," Annabeth said, "you can't think it was your fault or look for some kind of revenge. That's a recipe for disaster."

"I'll…"

"No, that's a 'yes' answer only."

"Yes, I'll keep it together. You should still hang out with my family. Paul loves you, my Mom basically treats you like her daughter, and Estelle is clearly already attached."

"Okay, I'll still stop by. And if I die, you have to stay in the same Capture-the-flag alliance as Cabin 6 anyways. Malcolm has big plans for you."

Percy laughed. "Okay. And if I die, you have to keep Riptide."

"I will. If I die, you have to take all my blueprints and bring them to my mother. All of them. That way the temples on Mount Olympus can be finished, and she'll find a place for all the rest."

"I can do that," Percy agreed. They were quiet for a second. That seemed to cover all their bases. "And what happens if I die but we're… we're further along? We've got other stuff going on?"

"We'll re-evaluate," Annabeth said. She shifted so she was now curling up on his chest, one hand against his shoulder. His hands went to her hair immediately. Re-evaluating sounded like a lot of work, on a day that had already been hard enough.

Percy starred at the ceiling, wondering what kinds of plans his cousin had made in case something had happened to him. He always had to remind himself that Jason was younger than he always thought he was.

In any case, Percy knew what plans Jason had had for the future. All those temples in New Rome, those tickets for the Lakers' game in April he'd bought with babysitting money and was planning on bringing Reyna to, that eclipse he couldn't wait to see in June because he'd been fighting a Titan on the last eclipse and hadn't gotten to enjoy it and now his school had a telescope on campus…

He realised then that Annabeth had fallen asleep on his chest. The slow sound of her breathing managed to bring him back to the moment- a moment, after all, that his cousin didn't have and that Percy was going to cherish.

* * *

They had successfully gotten married without a single immortal around by darting into City Hall before hopping in the car and driving down to Tybee Island in Georgia, where they had to return a Mermaid egg to her migrating pod before it hatched. Come to think of it, that might have been better than the actual wedding they had planned and promptly missed because of this little adventure.

Now, they were crumbled in the hotel. Annabeth was still wearing her white dress whose hem was damp with sea water, Percy's shirt was buttoned crookedly (and probably had been as he'd married her- oops), and they were lying in bed hoping not to have to move again for the next month or so. They'd ordered pizza for supper, so Percy could pretty much literally not be happier.

"I'm happy I'm married to you," Percy said. She pulled him to her, so his head rested on her stomach. She was playing with his hair. Okay, now he couldn't be happier.

"I'm going to make a will," Percy told her. "Now that you're my wife, I can leave you my stuff if something goes wrong."

"Okay," Annabeth said. "I'll write one too."

"Once you do, can you tell me how?" Percy asked. She smacked his forehead.

"You know, if one of us ends up in a mortal hospital now we'll be allowed in the ICU with each other since we're married," Annabeth said.

"We wouldn't have been before?" Percy asked.

"No," Annabeth said. "So you can thank the gods nothing happened to you because I would have left you to your fate."

* * *

They managed to keep it together until the realtor left the room before high-fiving each other and hugging.

"I can't believe we can afford this," Percy said looking around. The apartment was beautiful and spacious- which was a nice change from their current place. The loft fit their entire list: three bedrooms, an open floor-plan that would make the place easy to defend if anything got in, eco-friendly in its lighting and insulation, with a balcony that they could sit and drink wine on, a kitchen that Percy could not _wait_ to cook in, beautiful windows…

"I can," Annabeth said. Percy grinned and leaned down and kissed her.

"Good thing architects make lots of money," Percy said. "Especially when they win prizes."

"Oh, shush," Annabeth said. Percy loved seeing her turn so bashful, after years of hearing about all the things she would build and all the ways her hubris needed to be reigned in. "It's not like you've been a bum either."

Percy shrugged and kissed her again. "Imagine this place filled with plants- because you _know_ Grover is going to give us a thousand as a housewarming present. And we can put the bookcase there, so that you can read there in the sun, and I can game over there without a glare. And we can take that bedroom over there, closest to the door because when we have kids we'll want them further away…"

Annabeth laughed. "Slow down, Seaweed Brain. Let's sign the paperwork first."

He grinned and kissed her again. "I can't wait to make this our home."

Annabeth smiled back. "Hey. It's your home and it's my home too. We can never leave this place, not even if one of us dies, because you know we'll never find anything this nice again."

Percy laughed and only stopped when the realtor came back in.

* * *

Estelle's light footsteps pitter-pattered wildly across the apartment as she flew to open the door for them. She was wearing tiny jeans and a hoody whose hood looked like a frog.

"Hey Monkey," Percy said. He scooped her up quickly and while she was up in his arms, Estelle kissed Annabeth's cheek.

"I made Mom get us cookies and snacks to watch movies," Estelle informed her.

"That's really nice Estelle. I can't wait," Annabeth said. Percy put Estelle back down.

"Hey Stella, could you bring Annabeth's bag to the living room? Thanks," Percy said giving his little sister the duffel bag. She wandered away.

"I can carry things," Annabeth said defensively. She had one hand on the baby bump, but with the other she was leaning firmly against the doorframe.

"Okay," Percy said.

"Sweethearts!" Sally said appearing.

"Hey Mom," Percy said reaching out an arm to wrap around her. That didn't last long before Sally had her arms around Annabeth.

"Hi," Annabeth said. "Ready to be dropped off at the babysitter's."

"You're not being babysat," Percy said. "You just can't be alone for the duration of my 12-hour shift."

"Like a child you get a babysitter for," Annabeth said.

"Fine. If you're going to be this way, think of it as if Mom is babysitting the twins who happen to be inside you— so you have to stay in the apartment and watch movies with Estelle. And luckily enough that also means somebody will be around to pick up things you drop or tie your shoes," Percy said.

"I just want you to admit it," Annabeth smiled cheekily.

"Estelle got you snacks," Sally said.

"So I hear," Annabeth smiled.

"But if you want to read or do anything else, I also told her you might not have time to watch movies," Sally said.

"Oh no, that's fine," Annabeth said. She raised her voice a little bit. "It'll be fun, right Stella?"

Estelle shouted back from the living room: "I made us a blanket fort!"

Percy laughed and Annabeth shouted back something encouraging. Percy wrapped his arms around Annabeth, and Mom had the tact to slip away for a second.

"If anything happens, you text me. I know I'm not supposed to, but I'll keep my phone on at work—and if I don't answer within five minutes, call Grover, he knows he's on call. And when I say 'anything' I mean anything. If you see a monster, think you see a monster, go into labour…"

"I will not."

"Okay, but if you do…"

"Perseus Jackson," Annabeth said. "I do not need to be babied."

"I'm just trying to take care of you," Percy said. He squeezed the arms around her and kissed her forehead. He felt her relax against him and cursed his work schedule, wishing he could stay with her all day.

"You are," Annabeth said. "You're the best. But I'm not going to fall down and crack in two and break. Not in Estelle's blanket fort anyways. Okay?"

"Okay," Percy said.

"You have to go," Annabeth reminded him.

"Right," he said. He called for his sister and they did their secret handshake, and then Estelle took Annabeth's hand.

"Don't worry Percy," Estelle said confidently. "We got this."

* * *

"Where are you taking him?" Annabeth asked as the nurse picked up Jonathan from his bed.

"He just needs a check-up Mrs. Jackson," the nurse said kindle. Her name, according to the white board near hanging near the hospital room door, was Abby. She wore bright, cheerfully purple scrubs.

"Chase-Jackson," Annabeth corrected her, annoyed. "There's a note on our file that says that a parent must be present with him at all times. Please don't push us on this."

"Of course, Mrs. Chase-Jackson," the nurse said, putting Jonathan back down. "I'll go get the doctor."

When she left, Annabeth motioned for Percy to pass Sara, the twin that he was holding, to her. She was awake and curiously watching the world around her with big, pale eyes. Her dad had taken one look at her and smiled fondly before telling Annabeth that they would darken to a grey, just like hers had.

"Go pick him up," Annabeth said, nudging her head towards Jonathan as she rearranged Sara so that her head rested on the crook of her arm. "Please."

Percy went to go pick up Jonathan. Apparently his touch wasn't quite as soft as the nurse's, because the baby woke up.

"Oh, my bad," Percy told the baby. "I am so sorry for waking you up, lovely. I am so, so sorry but I promise it'll be worth it because here's…. Mom!"

He got Jonathan set up in the crook of Annabeth's _other_ arm, and the baby quickly settled down. Newborns were so small, sometimes existing for too long made them sleepy.

With her two children this close, Annabeth felt like she could finally take a deep breath. As it turns out, the fact that her children could now physically be separated from her was deeply worrying and terrifying to Annabeth. Their friends were taking turns guarding the hospital's entrances, and Percy had taken up Chiron's offer to teach swordfighting classes this summer so that they could spend a few months in the Big House within camp's borders. These things helped her nerves, but Annabeth hadn't been able to settle down since the twins were born.

That night, while the twins were sleeping in a shared crib right next to her too-narrow hospital bed, she and Percy curled up. The bed suddenly became narrower, but Annabeth didn't mind because keeping him close was good too.

"Grover as godfather," Annabeth said quietly. "Reyna as godmother."

"Yes," Percy agreed. "Grover is visiting tomorrow. We'll ask him, then. He'll cry."

"And who gets custody of them if something happens to us?" She asked.

"Annabeth…" Percy said.

"Re-evaluating," Annabeth said, sitting up in bed. "We are re-evaluating. That is what we always said we'd do."

"Alright," Percy said, sitting up with her. "I think it should be Mom and Paul. Someone separate, but who will still see the world they may be part of. Just in case. And someone in New York, so that if something happens when they're school-aged, they don't have to uproot their lives."

"Okay," Annabeth said. "Okay, I like that."

They talked a little bit longer, and Annabeth finally laid back down. Percy stretched out next to her again, and wrapped an arm around her middle. The light was dimmed, but they still watched the two babies. Annabeth couldn't read the cards on their crib, but she knew what they would say. _Sara Thalia Chase-Jackson_ and _Jonathan Jason Chase-Jackson._ She knew the hours of their births, seventeen minutes apart, and their weights and their sizes by heart. She knew everything about them except how to keep them absolutely, perfectly safe.

"Seaweed Brain?"

"Mmm?"

He was drifting off. Sleeping was somewhat contagious with him, he'd been like this with Estelle too.

"I know I said I would do anything to keep you safe, and that you were the only thing that I absolutely needed, and that I was terrified of losing you," Annabeth said. "But mark my words, if someone ever came after these two I would throw you head-first, straight into a volcano."

Percy laughed, and then stifled it to avoid waking up the twins.

"I love you," Percy said in her ear.

"I love you too," she said.

"And I need you to sleep," Percy said. "Because you've been incredible today, absolutely incredible, but you need to take care."

He could tell she wasn't actually falling asleep, so he kissed her hair again.

"These two little humans are ours. Nor Olympus nor Hades will take them from us. I, for one, would like to see somebody even try. Me? Yeah, it's whatever. But these two? No way."

Annabeth smiled even if he couldn't see it. "Not them," she said. "Never them."


End file.
